1. The Mission of Worcester Foodbank
To end hunger and food poverty in our city.
• We aim to help people in crisis who are referred to us by providing food parcels and other essential household products.
• We support the Trussell Trust1 in its work lobbying and influencing politicians and central government to end hunger and food poverty and promote a living household income for all.
2. Our Vision and Values
Worcester Foodbank operates under the Charitable status and Trustee governance of All Saints Church, Worcester, and under a franchise from the national foodbank charity, the Trussell Trust.
Our vision and core values reflect both organisations; and we are committed to:
• help radically transform the lives of individuals and our city by showing love and grace to those who visit us, through the provision of food and other household essentials, and through signposting2.
• helping serve all those in need throughout our city and working in partnership with others to achieve this.
• working with others to bring change to unjust systems and structures (e.g., the benefit system) which act as a barrier to people in crisis.
• working through collaboration and partnership with other churches and organisations to serve all those in need in Worcester.
In all of this we seek to remove the need for our services by reducing food poverty in this country. Our strategic aim is to close because we are no longer needed.
We are a church-based organisation; our volunteers come from all backgrounds, but we all share the same values of serving in our community and treating our clients with dignity and respect.
3. Brief Overview of Worcester Foodbank
Since June 2012 Worcester Foodbank has provided a lifeline to thousands of people and families that cannot afford to eat.
During that time, we’ve provided over 600,000 meals to clients from every corner of our city, referred to us by a network of agencies (over 100) including children’s centres, the job centre and health visiting service.
With every passing year we’ve seen the demands on our service rise as the pressure of low income, benefit issues, debt and issues following the rollout of Universal Credit drag more people into crisis. During 2020 the demand has risen dramatically due to food poverty and low
1 The Trussell Trust is the national foodbank charity from which Worcester Foodbank franchises its operation.
2 Signposting: we point people to other organisations and resources that may be able to offer them more help in dealing with their crisis.
income. We see this rising demand increasing as our local economy suffers the fall out from the COVID -19 Pandemic.
In response to the Pandemic, we have developed safe operating practices for our warehouse, distribution centre and food delivery. Notwithstanding these arrangements, when clients arrive at our warehouse in Lowesmoor they are provided with a food parcel packed with at least ten nutritionally balanced meals, as well as toiletries, household and cleaning items, toys and school and other clothing for children. Our compassionate volunteers also provide a listening ear and signpost clients to other services that may be able to help them.
Our aim is to end hunger in our city. That’s why we work with the Trussell Trust – which oversees the network of foodbanks – to provide a range of services like money advice and debt counselling to help people escape the cycle of poverty. More recently we introduced a delivery service for people who are unable to transport their food parcels.
None of these services would be possible without our amazing team of volunteers and the extraordinary generosity of the local community to help us eradicate hunger. Since opening our doors people have donated more than 550 tonnes of supplies, as well their time, energy and money. During 2020 we provided food to feed almost 10,000 people including about 3,500 children.
4. Our challenge for 2021 and beyond
We have managed to build a storehouse and financial resilience due to the amazing generosity of Worcester people, local charities and businesses around the city. We face unprecedented challenges in the coming years. We do not now how demand will change, but the economy is likely to increase people in crisis, and reduce the ability for people to maintain generosity at current levels. At the same time the lease to our Warehouse on Lowesmoor comes to an end on 20th June and we are negotiating with the Landlord to stay put for the time being. This poses uncertainty as the whole area is due for redevelopment.
As a Christian based organisation run by All saints Church in partnership with local faith-based organisations, we pray that the City will support us in our work and help us to continue to provide this valuable community service.
If you’d like to support our work visit http://www.worcester.foodbank.org.uk
Grahame Lucas
Worcester Foodbank Manager
January 2021